“EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE ALRIGHT” (“Or NOT?”)

The poster boy for the Vancouver RE boom has now come up with a poster that may well end up becoming the ultimate ironic visual anecdote. Vancouver condo marketer Bob Rennie explains its meaning, and ‘rentah’ comments. This from Bob Rennie, BC Business magazine, 2 Sept 2009 –

“On the exterior walls of my new offices in Chinatown, I’ve installed a 23-metre neon work of art by Britain’s Martin Creed. It reads, EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE ALRIGHT. And it will. Yes, we boomers are on the downward side of our peak earning years. Yes, we’ve experienced the biggest financial collapse in our lifetime. We will have to institute dramatic changes in how we entertain ourselves, where and how we travel, what we drive, where we live and how we ultimately pass on wealth to our children. For the enterprising business person, there are many opportunities out there to capitalize on this new reality. But for those praying for a return to yesterday, forget it. It’s gone.”

“Interesting. I’d say that Rennie has COMPLETELY misread Martin Creed’s work. He’s purchased it as a giant Hallmark Card, when it’s actually intended as an ironic warning. (Perhaps everything is NOT going to be alright.) Here [follow] some more works by Creed:
Ask yourself… “Is it the artist’s intention for me to take these works literally?”
Then think about what Rennie is doing.”

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Update 16 Dec 2009:

Ironically, the ‘Everything Is Going To Be Alright’ piece was previously installed in that other bastion of real estate strength, Detroit. And it was later changed to ‘Nothing Will Be Alright’. Somehow, I can’t see Vancouver sensibilities being capable of handling all this irony. Imagine ‘Nothing Will Be Alright’ on Rennie’s building in Chinatown. No, neither can I. -vreaa.

Discussed at booooooom.com, with this comment from HFRY 11 Dec 2009: “DETROIT Museum of Contemporary Art had this first by Martin Creed. Then it got changed to ‘Nothing Will Be Alright’ ! think about it.”